Freefall (15 page)

“What about the other man?” Amy pointed at the wall where only two of her sketches now remained. She was hoping and praying that the crisis was really over before it began.

Kel shook his head. “No sign of him. The FBI is informing the transit authority and our surveillance teams of who we're looking for. We don't want them looking for the guys we already have in custody.”

“Come on, guys.” Tristan called out. “Let's get back to work.” He moved back to his computer terminal and relieved the man who had covered for him.

Kel thanked the unit that had taken over for them for the last couple hours as everyone resumed their prior positions. However relaxed everyone might have been over lunch, they were all business now. Between three and four o'clock eastern time, they had two false alarms with abandoned backpacks, but thankfully both were reclaimed before they had to send anyone in to check them out.

As the minutes ticked into the four o'clock hour, tension continued to build. The volume of people traveling the subway increased steadily, and by five o'clock it was difficult to pick anyone out in the crowd. Kel continued to get updates from the security personnel at the various stations, but so far no one had seen the man they were looking for.

Amy looked at the monitor for Metro Center, dread settling in her stomach as she realized that even with all of the extra security, they might not be able to stop the attack. She glanced at the platform where a blue-line train was just pulling out. A couple of people hurried through the sliding doors just as they closed, while a few others moved down the escalator, resigned to wait for the next train.

A man stepped off of the elevator and leaned up against the station wall. Amy's heart stopped, a fragment of memory flashing in her mind. Something in the way he positioned his body took her back to that moment when she was pulled from her room. She closed her eyes, bringing the man back into her mind.

“Can you zero in on this guy?” Amy asked Brent.

Brent didn't hesitate. “Him?”

She nodded, watching as Brent changed the screen so that they were only looking at the one view. Then he zoomed in.

The man's hair was blond, not brown, and he held a cane in one hand. As Brent zoomed closer and then proceeded to add some clarity to the image, Amy gasped. “That's him.”

“Are you sure?” Kel asked, moving to her side.

Already Brent had the phone to his ear. “We've got a visual at Metro Center station. Close it down. No one else comes in.”

Beside him, Quinn was instructing the police unit at that station where to find the man in question. “Blue-line platform toward Franconia-Springfield.”

“Have them stop the blue-line trains in that direction,” Kel instructed. “And then have them clear the trains for the other lines and send empty cars to get the rest of those people out of there. With any luck, we can evacuate everyone before he realizes what's going on.”

Brent clicked back to the main screen so that they could see more than the one view. “How is he going to release it? He isn't carrying a briefcase or a backpack.”

“That cane.” Amy pointed to the cane he had walked in with and then leaned next to a bench. “Could it somehow be inside of it?”

Brent nodded. “Look, he's moving toward the platform.”

“And leaving the cane behind,” Kel added. “It must have some kind of time release in it.”

Brent was already instructing his contact at Metro Center. “There's a cane on one of the concrete benches. Tell your men to vacuum-seal it and evacuate the station.”

The man glanced at his watch and then up at the monitor that showed how long it would be until the next train. Only seven people remained on the blue-line platform with the man in question—a woman with three boys ranging in age from about six to ten, a couple in their early twenties, and a man who looked like he was on his way home from work. No one seemed to notice that the flow of pedestrian traffic had stopped coming down the escalator behind them. A crowd of people still remained on the other side of the platform, and they could see an empty train approaching to pick them up.

Sensing something was wrong, the man turned just as four men in hazmat suits came storming toward him. Screams echoed as one of them rushed the seven other passengers to the elevator, punching the button to send them upstairs to safety. Another picked up the cane and placed it in a hazmat container, quickly sealing it. Across from them, the train was now full and pulling away.

The man Amy had identified ran up the escalator stairs, and the men in hazmat suits just watched him go.

“Why aren't they chasing him?” Amy asked just as two more men appeared at the top of the escalator, weapons drawn. “Never mind.”

Beside her, Kel patted Amy on the back. “Good work, kid.”

“Thanks.” Amy let out a shaky breath. She stepped back and lowered herself into a chair, afraid that her knees would give way if she stood much longer. She looked up at her sketch and stared evil in the eye.

“Now what?” Charlie asked. “Is that it?”

Kel shook his head. “Not quite. If anyone else is working with the men we've already identified, they won't know that we're on to them.” Kel motioned to the bank of computers. “We'll keep monitoring for suspicious activity until the subway closes for the night.”

Everyone settled back into their places and the room quieted as they went back to work. Unsure of what an additional terrorist would look like, they couldn't do much more than watch for anyone leaving personal items behind. Minutes ticked by, but the only crime they witnessed was a pickpocket at Dupont Circle.

At seven o'clock eastern standard time, Kel decided it was time to call in another unit to take over. “It's been almost two hours since the attempt at Metro Center. If nothing else has happened by now, I think we're in the clear.”

Amy continued to stare at the Metro Center station until their replacements arrived. She couldn't quite believe that it was over and that finally her life and her future were once again hers. She looked over at Brent and wondered if he would want to be part of that future.

“I didn't think your dad would let you out tonight,” Brent said when Amy walked through the door of her temporary quarters. She was still wearing the flowing skirt she had put on that morning, but instead of her blouse, she had changed into a plain white T-shirt.

She walked down the steps, smiling when Brent took her hand. “Dad and Charlie were both asleep within ten minutes of getting home.”

“You should be sleeping too,” Brent commented as he drew her out to the car he had borrowed.

“I'm too wired,” Amy admitted. “But I'll understand if you don't want to go out.”

“I've gotten kind of used to seeing you in the middle of the night,” Brent said softly. “I've missed it.”

A faint blush crept into her cheeks, and she looked up at the sky. She guessed that it was about two in the morning, and while her body was exhausted, her mind just wasn't about to shut down. After her dad and brother had fallen asleep, she had called Brent on impulse, just needing someone to talk to. When he had offered to come take her out for a drive, she scribbled a note to her dad and was out the door without a second thought.

“Come on.” Brent opened the door for her. “I found the perfect place to hang out.”

“I didn't think anything would still be open this time of night,” Amy commented, sliding into her seat.

“Trust me,” he said before going around the front of the car and getting into the driver's seat.

“Where are we going?” Amy persisted.

“You'll see.” Brent drove for a few minutes before turning onto a side road. The road wound through the trees, and finally he pulled off to the side near a little clearing. “Come on.”

Amy climbed out of the car as Brent opened the trunk and pulled out a basket. He stepped next to her and took her hand, leading her into the clearing. She didn't see the blanket spread out beneath a tree until she was within a few feet of it.

Brent set down the basket and pulled out a book of matches. He picked up a lantern from the center of the blanket, lit it, and set it back down.

Amy could only stare. “How did you do this? I only called you fifteen minutes ago.”

“I was planning on calling you, but I wasn't sure how I was going to get you out past your dad and brother.”

“You're not afraid of my family, are you?” Disbelief laced her voice.

“I think it would be more accurate to say that your family is afraid of me,” Brent said without thinking. He reached for her hand, and sat down with her on the blanket. “I wasn't sure if you would be hungry, but I brought some food just in case.”

Amy watched as he set out the impromptu picnic: crackers, cheese, grapes, and chocolate chip cookies. “You're spoiling me.”

“I think after the job you did today you deserve it.”

Amy tucked her legs up under her and popped a grape in her mouth. “I wonder if my body will ever figure out what time zone I'm in.”

“You really haven't given yourself a chance to adjust yet,” Brent commented. “So far you've only spent one night in a real bed in the past week.”

“And here I am sitting outside with you instead of taking advantage of the bed that's been offered to me.” She laughed. “Maybe I do need to see a shrink sooner than later. I seem to have developed an aversion to easy living.”

“I'll think you'll adjust quicker than you think.” Brent took two water bottles from the basket and passed one to Amy. “I remember when we went to regionals for swimming my sophomore year. We stayed overnight at a hotel, and we had four people to a room. No one would share a bed, so all of the underclassmen ended up sleeping on the floor. Believe me, I had no trouble sleeping in my own bed when I got home.”

Amy leaned back on an elbow. “I would have thought with your height you would have played basketball.”

Brent shook his head. “Nope, Mom had been coaching the high school swim teams my whole life.”

“I thought most coaches for the boys' teams were men.”

“Not at my school. Mom coached both the boys' and girls' teams. Over the years I had learned some important lessons.”

“Like what?”

Brent grinned wickedly. “Like that freshmen rarely make the varsity basketball team, and that basketball players don't have girls in swimsuits at their practices. Besides, I didn't want to wait until my junior year to get a letter jacket.”

“I have a feeling you were more interested in the girls than in the jacket.”

“Probably true.” Brent shrugged carelessly. “Not that I could do a whole lot of flirting with Mom standing on deck, but being the coach's son did have some advantages.”

“Like having access to the phone numbers for all of the girls on the team?”

Brent laughed. “Have you ever considered a career in intelligence? Not much gets by you.”

“It's probably safer than working for the State Department.”

“Do you think you'll take another post with State?”

“I don't know.” Amy bit into a cracker and considered. “What will happen in Abolstan now?”

“Intel will start gathering information about Namir Dagan and anyone else who is behind the use of biological weapons. Eventually we'll go in and neutralize the threat,” Brent explained. Then he redirected the conversation once more. “You know, there are plenty of positions with State that are a lot safer than the one you had in Abolstan.”

“I know, but I mostly took the job to get away from home for a while. Now I don't know what I'll do. Even though I was only away for a few weeks, I felt like I was missing out on everything with my family.”

“I can tell you're close.”

She nodded. “Considering Dad's profession, he did a good job of being around when we needed him most. And Mom made sure that the social side of politics didn't take over our family life.”

“That couldn't have been easy to juggle.”

“I never realized how many invitations they turned down until I left home. Then all of a sudden they were so busy we could hardly get in touch with them.” Amy took a sip of her water. “I have a feeling what happened last week will probably make all of us reconsider what's really important.”

“Life and death situations tend to do that to people.” Brent frowned. “And your family had more than its share this week.”

“I still can't believe my dad and brother were in Cairo.”

“I wasn't sure you knew about that.”

“I only found out because the DCI sent flowers to thank my brother for saving his life,” Amy explained. She considered for a moment. “I guess that means I should send you flowers too.”

“I've got a better idea.” Brent leaned forward and skimmed his fingers through her hair as the light flickered over her face. Amusement crossed her face when he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. “Actually,” he said, “I owe you for taking care of me after I was shot.” With a grin he kissed her again.

Amy was smiling when Brent broke the playful kiss. “Does this make us even?”

“I'm sure I can think of something else I need to thank you for.” He leaned forward once more, but Amy put a hand on his chest before he could kiss her again.

“You must have been a handful when you were a teenager.”

“Not really. It's hard to get into too much trouble when you always get caught.”

Amy just laughed as she popped another grape into her mouth. She looked up at the stars, thinking. Finally, she turned to Brent and asked, “Do we have real threats like the one at the subway often?”

“I'm not sure I can answer that.” Brent stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles.

“Classified?”

“That and I only know about what I deal with.”